Resentment
Tang Mujin carried the corpse of Goiyi on his back and headed toward the Huizhu.
It was because he wished for Goiyi to rest peacefully beside his family, rather than in some nameless corner of Qinghai.
It was not a comfortable journey.
Distance aside, even though winter was drawing to an end, the weather was bitterly cold.
As he walked in silence, his fingers and toes constantly went numb from the frost. He had to circulate his inner energy as he walked to prevent frostbite. He had never imagined that the walking technique he once learned would help him in this way.
But despite the discomfort, Tang Mujin thought it fortunate that the weather was cold.
If the weather grew warmer, the body would begin to rot. A couple of days might be manageable, but once the corpse started to collapse, it would become a serious problem.
Better to fight the cold on the road than face that.
Another issue was that it was difficult to encounter people while carrying a corpse. Tang Mujin always had to wander through deserted paths.
As a result, his bed every night was the snow-covered ground. He did not even light a fire, even while sleeping in the open, afraid that warming the surroundings would worsen the condition of the body.
Of course, he could have left the corpse at a distance and made a fire for himself with no problem. But if that were the case, he would not be sleeping outside the village in the first place.
Tang Mujin did not want to put Goiyi's corpse in the cold while he himself warmed comfortably by a fire. Somehow, it felt like he would be committing a sin against him.
So he chose to be stubborn, because this was a time when he needed to be stubborn.
Sitting before Goiyi's corpse, eating cold, hard food, countless thoughts surfaced.
It felt as though Goiyi would stand up at any moment, grumbling.
"Damn, it's cold. What, you're eating alone?"—that kind of thing. Sometimes he even heard phantom voices.
But when he came back to his senses, Goiyi lay motionless.
And so Tang Mujin walked on alone for twenty days.
***
By the time he arrived at the Huizhu, Tang Mujin looked like a complete beggar.
To be frank, he was far filthier than when he had first met Hong Geolgae. Unlike Hong Geolgae, who occasionally washed in a stream, Tang Mujin had not been able to bathe once during the long journey.
He waited until the surroundings grew dark, then climbed up the hill where a walnut tree stood. Two graves, one large and one small, awaited their husband and father.
Tang Mujin sat by their side and dug into the earth with his bare hands.
When he had dug up the Ten-Thousand Remedies Book in autumn, the soil had been manageable. But now the frozen ground barely yielded, leaving only wounds on his fingertips. Hunger and exhaustion made it worse.
He unfastened his sword and struck the ground with the end of its scabbard. It worked better than his hands, but at that rate, he could not tell how long it would take to dig a grave. He suspected the scabbard might break before he was finished.
In the end, Tang Mujin went down to the village and stole a usable shovel.
After digging deep into the earth and burying Goiyi, the night was already giving way, and the eastern sky began to brighten faintly.
Covered in dirt, Tang Mujin lay down beside the grave and stared blankly at the morning star.
He thought he would feel relieved after taking care of Goiyi's corpse and laying him to rest. But he felt no relief at all. His heart still boiled with turmoil.
He wondered for a long time what this emotion was.
Anger toward the assassins?
Regret toward Goiyi, who had died so helplessly after leaving so suddenly, as if it were nothing?
No. It was guilt.
Tang Mujin fiddled with the Gu-Dok-Seo —the "Poison-Weaving Book"—that he had recovered from Goiyi's body.
As its name suggested, the book contained knowledge of poisons.
How to combine toxins to create stronger ones.
How to maximize their effects.
How to neutralize them.
Just from skimming the contents, it was clear: this was a medical text left behind by a Ma-yi (a "Demon Doctor").
It was said the Demon Doctor's talent for killing far surpassed his talent for saving.
Thus, Goiyi had successfully achieved his goal of obtaining the Demon Doctor's medical text. Whether he had been given it peacefully, or stolen it by killing, Tang Mujin could not know.
But on his way back, Goiyi had encountered assassins—and was murdered.
"Was the one who hired the assassins Baek Choo-seo?"
He was not certain. But the likelihood was high.
If so, it meant that if Baek Choo-seo had been killed in time, assassins might never have pursued Goiyi.
"If I hadn't stopped the old master from killing Baek Choo-seo…"
There was a good chance Goiyi would still be alive.
All this had happened because of his soft, indecisive choice. Tang Mujin bit his lips until they bled.
"If I had stopped the old master, then at least I should have gone with him."
He recalled the bodies of the assassins he had found in Qinghai, and the one he himself had slain.
Goiyi had killed five of the six assassins. The one survivor had only been a scout, not a fighter. That meant Goiyi had fought evenly in a one-against-five battle.
If Tang Mujin had joined him, two against five, perhaps Goiyi might have survived.
But instead, he had let Baek Choo-seo live, causing assassins to pursue Goiyi. And knowing assassins were after him, he still let Goiyi travel alone. Thinking carelessly, "The old master will be fine."
He had failed to finish what should have been finished, and left the aftermath and danger for Goiyi to bear.
Yes. His soft-heartedness had brought this about.
After sitting blankly for a long time, Tang Mujin rose and headed southeast.
***
The boundary of seasons is subtle.
Some think spring arrives with the first warm breeze. Others believe it only comes when snow melts and green shoots rise.
It was still a time when people disagreed whether it was winter or spring.
But Baek Choo-seo had believed spring had come long ago.
After all, if the harshest part of winter had passed, then spring must have arrived.
For him, winter had begun early last year.
On the day when thugs disguised as physicians broke in, kidnapped Hyanga, and plotted foul schemes—that was when his winter began.
No one had died or been injured in that incident. But living no longer felt like living.
Every time Hyanga, whom he had cherished dearly, showed the faintest distance, Baek Choo-seo's heart would sink.
It almost felt less painful to return to the time when he had not known Hyanga was suffering from meridian atrophy, when her health had been frail, when she had been slowly dying.
And then there was the problem of Goiyi's words, which would not leave his mind.
"If your abilities are lacking, even ordinary dreams can become overreaching greed."
Every time those words came to him, he felt as if he would go insane.
Just seeing a sword made his hands tremble, as it reminded him of those words. He had even skipped nearly ten days of training—something he had never once missed in his life.
But both problems had been solved before long.
The matter with Hyanga was solved by distance.
Master Muryangja of the Gongdong Sect, who had been close with her father, recognized Hyanga's talent and took her in as a disciple.
Now they did not have to face each other, and thus no awkwardness arose.
In fact, in a recent letter from Muryangja, he wrote that Hyanga, aside from her abundant inner energy, also possessed excellent martial talent.
Considering Muryangja was a man sparing with praise, it was certain that Hyanga would be a pillar to raise Jeonwon Baekga in the future.
And the tormenting words in his mind were resolved a few months ago, when Salmak's branch leader Jeonji came to visit.
"Patriarch Baek, about the request that failed last time…"
"What nerve do you have to come here? Do you think you've found my weakness?"
"No, sir. I reported it to the higher-ups, and it turned out that man was no ordinary person. Yi Gyun was not his real name."
"And?"
"He was Goiyi Yi Chung ."
"Goiyi Yi Chung ! Then what of the request? Are you giving up?"
"Not at all. As it happens, the higher-ups had already been eager to kill Goiyi. They gathered five assassins of the highest caliber. No matter what, Goiyi cannot survive."
"Excellent!"
"However, additional costs will arise. Will that be acceptable…?"
"It doesn't matter."
Though spending the money left little savings in the household, that was a small matter.
Baek Choo-seo had never been extravagant, and the household servants were so few they could be counted on one hand.
With the money left, he could endure for a few years. After that, Hyanga would surely find her own way.
They say hardship matures a person. Once he had cast off all his worries, everything began to flow smoothly.
Even his martial training, which had stagnated for more than ten years, seemed to be showing progress.
Not that his martial state had advanced so dramatically as to be unrecognizable, but it felt as though he was inching forward.
If Salmak handled Goiyi and brought him the good news, perhaps his progress would accelerate, pushing him to stand before the wall of Zenith. If fortune smiled on him, he might even surpass it.
If I'm lucky, I might reach Zenith before Hyanga does.
That day too, Baek Choo-seo enthusiastically practiced the Baek Family Sword Technique, then entered his quarters in the main hall.
Just as he was about to lie down, he sensed a faint presence. Glancing around the room, he saw a man in black standing in one corner.
Another person might have been startled and drawn his sword, but Baek Choo-seo was overjoyed.
He had been waiting eagerly, neck craning, for word to come from Salmak.
Waiting for the man in black to deliver the words he longed to hear, Baek Choo-seo listened closely.
The man in black spoke.
"The commission has been fulfilled. Goiyi is dead."
A bolt of joy struck Baek Choo-seo's mind like lightning piercing through his skull.
With this feeling, he thought, he could smash through the wall of Zenith in one breath.
"Excellent! Where is Goiyi's head? I need to see that face before I can pay the remainder."
The man in black stayed silent at first, then answered a moment later.
"…You will see it soon."
"I can't wait. I'd prefer to see it before it rots and crumbles."
Baek Choo-seo was not disappointed.
Several people had pooled money to commission Goiyi's assassination. Even if the mission had been completed, he expected that Goiyi's head would pass through several hands before it reached him.
When he had heard from Salmak's branch leader that there was more than one patron behind the assassination of Goiyi, Baek Choo-seo had secretly felt pleased.
It was confirmation that Goiyi was not a righteous man, but a villain who had earned the resentment of many.
And those were only the ones connected enough to Salmak and wealthy enough to pay.
How many more must there have been who lacked the means?
Even as he placed the assassination order, Baek Choo-seo felt a sense of pride in his heart.
Like a righteous hero of the orthodox sects, he felt as though he were punishing an evildoer and avenging the helpless and oppressed.
Since it was a righteous deed, borrowing the dirty hands of Salmak was no great issue.
In fact, it was all the better because he had borrowed Salmak's hand. Was there not a saying, "use one evil to destroy a greater evil"? A fine method, with a fine result.
If only Goiyi and the assassins of Salmak all died together, that would be ideal.
At that moment, the man in black asked Baek Choo-seo:
"Where is Lady Baek? The young mistress should also hear that the mission is complete."
It was a statement that should never have been spoken, and Baek Choo-seo was startled.
Though he did not think commissioning Salmak was shameful, letting his daughter know of it was another matter entirely.
"What nonsense is that? Why would you tell her? If you say such a thing to Hyanga, know this—you won't get the rest of the payment, even if you bring me Goiyi's head!"
When Baek Choo-seo snapped, the man in black muttered:
"So, you are the one who placed the order, and Lady Baek knows nothing of it."
A sharp dissonance pierced Baek Choo-seo. How could Salmak not know who the client was?
"…What did you just say? Are you really from Salmak? Where is the branch leader?"
"Branch leader? I don't know."
The man in black removed his hood, revealing the face of a young man.
Faint though his memory was, it was not a face erased completely.
A man who had seemed to be one of Goiyi's subordinates. Baek Choo-seo gasped.
Tang Mujin glared at him with blazing eyes.
"As for where that so-called branch leader is—that's something you'll be spitting out soon enough."
The moment Tang Mujin finished speaking, venomous energy surged in waves from all directions, engulfing Baek Choo-seo.